Thursday, July 08, 2004

The birthday present

I have a very dear friend and a week before my birthday she had already booked my two for a sleep-over so I could "celebrate" the event. A couple of days after the event, my friend telephoned me and said she was sending her cleaners to my house the following week as she was going to Michigan to visit family. The cleaners were paid for and all I had to do was open the door and let them in. If only that were the case! (She didn't say it was my present.. but it was!) Good friends just know what you need, even when you don't realise it yourself.

I had known for a full week that the cleaners were coming on Thursday and all I had to do was make it possible for them to clean. Oh my.... where do you start?

Jan gave me the idea that actually made it possible for me to have the cleaners in my house... "What I do is just put what is in the way on the bed"

Our bed, Andrew's bed and Christopher's bed looked like overloaded dumpsters, which if we had paid someone to remove, we would have been surcharged!

Where does all the c..p come from and how is it no-one notices it until ... well you have to? I spent three hours preparing for the arrival of the cleaners and believe me it was hard labour and I've given birth twice.

I was full of optimism and excitement. The cleaners were coming at 12.30. I had to pick the boys up from Art Camp at 12.30 so on my way out I left instructions with Kevin that the Yamaha piano was not to be touched.

On my return, I noticed that their vacuum cleaner was not great and had no obvious crevice tool attachment. I allowed myself to be deluded into thinking these professionals could do a better job than me. (I am an expert on vacuum cleaners.. I have five)

The real reason I dislike housework so much is that I don't have the time to do a really good job under normal circumstances. I am actually very good at it but suffer huge amounts of inertia at the prospect of starting a job and not completing it. Yes, it is a rather defeatist attitude I know.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Andrew and Christopher are sharing a bed tonight as Andrew's bunk beds are inaccessible, most of my kitchen ephemera is on the table on the deck but the good news is my bed is accessible and the kitchen looks light and airy. I spent a good couple of hours today "re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" and my bedroom looks unfamiliar as a result. My visual memory is all to pot and tomorrow is going to be fun trying to locate things!

OK, so has any good come from all of this? The answer is a resounding YES. I need to have cleaners come into my house so I can make it possible for cleaning to happen. It feels good... but how can anyone clean seriously without a crevice tool, I ask you!

I went out tonight for a girls' night out and fully expected to return to mayhem and mess. Not so. It is quiet and clean. How long can the calm and order be maintained? I'll let you know!

Did I mention the cleaners surcharged me!

PS Andrew won a "guess how many Starbursts are in the jar" competition he entered at the beginning of the week at Helios in Cupertino tonight. He was overjoyed...... and then I asked him who really won the competition.... How many did you write down as your first guess... ); I celebrated my birthday at Helios on the 28th 0f June! I enjoyed it so much we went back a week later with the boys.